FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT YASUKUNI SHRINE - PAGE 3

TOKYO, Jan 1 (Reuters) - A Japanese cabinet member visited a shrine seen by critics as a symbol of Tokyo's wartime aggression on Wednesday, pouring salt on a fresh wound after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pilgrimage there last week drew sharp criticism from China and South Korea. Internal Affairs Minister Yoshitaka Shindo said he thought his visit to the Yasukuni Shrine was unlikely to become a diplomatic issue, Kyodo news agency reported. Beijing and Seoul have repeatedly expressed anger over politicians' visits to Yasukuni, where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal after World War Two are honoured along with those who died in battle.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China took its propaganda war with Japan to the United Nations on Wednesday, questioning Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's motives for visiting a controversial war shrine and calling on him to correct his "erroneous outlook" on history. Abe's December 26 visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals are enshrined along with other war dead, infuriated China and South Korea and prompted concern from the United States, a key ally.

By Elaine Lies TOKYO, April 23 (Reuters) - Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber, whose tumultuous life has landed him in trouble more than once, on Wednesday apologised for a visit to a Tokyo shrine at the centre of a bitter international row over Japan's wartime aggression. Bieber, 20, posted a picture on social media of himself visiting Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine with the heading, "Thank you for your blessings". The picture was later deleted, although it was republished elsewhere on the Internet, including by a Bieber fan group, and drew criticism from South Korea and China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will fly to Japan this week to mend relations between neighbors tightly linked by trade but torn by years of warfare and squabbling. On the first such visit by a Chinese premier since 2000, Wen will make a rare speech to Japan's parliament, confer with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and meet Emperor Akihito. He also will seek to assuage widespread concerns among Japanese that China's rise threatens the region. Tensions have subsided markedly between the neighbors since Abe came to office in September, replacing Junichiro Koizumi, whose regular visits to the Yasukuni Shrine -- which honors Japan's war dead, including war criminals -- enraged China.

TOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Japan's land minister and postal minister visited a controversial shrine for war dead on Thursday in a move which could further strain relations between neighbouring China and Korea, already tense over territorial disputes. The two ministers' pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine, seen by many in the region as a symbol of Japan's war-time militarism, came a day after Japan's main opposition party leader and possible next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, visited there.

SEOUL, April 22 (Reuters) - South Korea's foreign minister has cancelled a trip to Japan after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an offering to a shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's former militarism, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Monday. Abe, an outspoken nationalist, on Sunday made a ritual offering of a pine tree to the Yasukuni shrine where 14 Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal are honoured, along with other war dead.

An outspoken politician whose mother's house was burned to the ground after he criticized Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a controversial war shrine warned Tuesday that increasing intimidation by right-wing extremists is casting a chill over free speech in Japan. "There is less freedom than before to express one's feelings," said Koichi Kato, a onetime senior member of the governing Liberal Democratic Party. Kato has become a target of hard-line nationalists for his criticism of Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 wartime leaders convicted of war crimes are enshrined.

Change has come slowly--and sometimes not at all--in Japan. It is a nation that values tradition and slow consensus building, which is what makes Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's efforts to force radical reforms on his nation are all the more stunning. Koizumi is trying to jump-start--finally--an economy that has languished for the last 15 years. Simultaneously, he is trying to begin a new era for Japan on the world stage, one that fully acknowledges once and for all its shameful past military aggressions in Asia.